Minister of Communications Claims Bandits Use Special Technology to ‘Bounce Calls Off Multiple Towers’ and Evade Tracking

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has revealed that criminal groups, including bandits and terrorists, are exploiting technological vulnerabilities and using what he described as “advanced technology” to conduct communications and successfully evade tracking by Nigeria’s security agencies.

The Minister made the disclosure during an appearance on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” on Friday, December 12, 2025, where he explained the complexity of monitoring criminal communications in Nigeria’s porous telecommunications environment.

Dr. Tijani claimed that the bandits are employing sophisticated methods that go beyond the use of regular SIM cards, stating, “The reason why the President actually pushed us to invest in towers in those areas is that we realised that there was a special kind of technology that they were using to call. They were not using the normal towers; they bounce calls off multiple towers. That is why they enjoy living in areas that are unconnected.” He asserted that this method is specifically designed to confuse monitoring systems and hinder security operatives from tracing their exact locations.

Government’s Digital Response

The Minister underscored that this technological challenge necessitates significant investment in telecommunications infrastructure. He assured the public that the Federal Government is already executing a plan to bridge these gaps and enhance national security surveillance capabilities. Key initiatives include:

• Satellite Upgrade: The government is actively working on upgrading Nigeria’s communication satellites, stating, “Because if our towers are not working, our satellites will work.”

• Rural Tower Expansion: A major project is slated for 2026 to deploy an estimated 4,000 new telecom towers across underserved rural communities, thereby eliminating the unconnected zones the criminals exploit.

However, the Minister’s technical explanation has faced immediate scrutiny from tech experts and software developers who took to social media today, Saturday, December 13, 2025. The experts argued that the concept of signals bouncing off multiple towers is standard network behavior and should, in theory, improve location tracking capabilities. They suggested that the fundamental issue remains poor network coverage and infrastructure in remote areas, not a special “call bouncing” technology used by bandits.